Life happens. You laugh about it or cry about it, sometimes both.

7 Quick Takes: October 18

1. Stephen is on a dinner-time hunger strike where he won’t eat the meal I serve. Then he won’t eat the other meal I serve him, trying to get him to eat. Then he won’t eat the meal I serve him again because I wrapped up the plate and put it in the fridge. All he wants is “cheeros” and nothing else will do. It’s frustrating, especially when others in the house opt for “cheeros” for their own dinner on leftover night. How will I ever get Stephen to eat the dinner I prepare for him if other people get to eat breakfast cereal for dinner? It’s a struggle. I’m hoping it’s a phase for Stephen. He used to be such a good eater…he ate anything I put down for him. Except kale. He’s never been a fan of kale. I try to model good eating habits and a variety of foods for him, but he does not look only to me to learn behaviors. There are three other adults in the house he observes as well.

2. We’ve had some response to our support page for Agnes. There have been a lot of people looking at the page, and so far 6 donations. We are almost 4 percent to our goal! We are so thankful and appreciative for those who have offered a gift to help us take care of Agnes and all her needs.

3. I want to start a small cookie baking project to help support my family. I will probably start an Etsy page since this looks like the easiest and most legitimate way to sell homemade goods on a small scale. I have one major question about this venture, though: how do I ship the goods? Should I freeze the cookies and ship them frozen so they arrive frozen? Should I ship them fresh with ample padding? Should I freeze them and ship them frozen so they arrive thawed? I do not know. I fear I may have to purchase some cookies from a number of Etsy vendors in the name of Research. Yes.

4. Agnes continues to be stable. They turned down the rate of the ventilator from 20 to 15 and she apparently did not notice, which is good. The plan is to reduce the rate by five each day, until all Agnes has is CPAP with pressure support, then take away the pressure support and leave Agnes with CPAP, then take away the CPAP. We’ll see how it goes.

5. I’ve been hearing a number of negative comments about people who rely on government assistance programs like EBT and Medicaid. I would just like to remind everyone that while there are of course many who abuse these programs, there are also many who genuinely need the support to make ends meet. I myself use EBT and I am so grateful. If I did not have EBT, we would spend half our monthly income on food, easily, which does not leave much left over for gasoline, bills, incidental expenses, clothing, church donations, and “emergency.” Because, you know if you only have $600 to divvy up after food, there are going to be emergencies. That’s the rules. Anyway, things like this are mildly offensive to me, and also pathetically funny that there are people who believe this kind of stuff, which it is becoming more and more clear to me: there are. lots. If such a thing can be judged by quantifying the related Facebook memes.

And my family is on Medicaid. Oh my gosh, if we did not have this, we would probably spend 1000% (one thousand percent) or more of our monthly income on medical bills.

6. It’s starting to look and feel like Fall around here! The leaves are turning colors, it’s been chilly and crisp. I love it. The heat has been on in the house, and I’ve had to wipe off the windshield in the morning.

7. I’ve got a cough that just won’t quit, and I wasn’t too worried because I have no other symptoms besides a cough that is sometimes dry, sometimes productive. Except now I’ve had it for more than a week, and the coughs really take a lot out of me. I hope I’m not infectious because my daughter has Chronic Respiratory Failure…And I don’t want to go to the doctor because I’m not sure my Medicaid is working right now since Agnes just got transferred off the MCO and back to straight Medicaid, and apparently county employees are so overworked that they accidentally transfer around whole families when one member moves, even though it seems like it would be more work to transfer multiple people…whatever. I have a dreaded phone call to make, I can see. And I’m not encouraged because apparently this happens all the time, and some ladies I’ve talked to have trouble convincing the office that the problem even exists. Sigh. Wish me luck.

4 responses to “7 Quick Takes: October 18”

Stephen is at an age where picky eating is pretty much the norm. It’s very frustrating, isn’t it? I wish I had some wonderful advice to offer, but the best I can do is, “He’ll probably grow out of it.”

As for your “take # 5,” there are always going to be a few people who take unfair advantage of such programs. Unfortunately, they make better stories than people like your family who genuinely need the help and would never use them unfairly.

For your home business, have you considered scones or biscotti? They might be easier to ship.

I think Liz went through a stage at about 2 when she ate Cheerios all the time…I let her and fed her vitamins…maybe not the right choice but it hasn’t stunted her growth or development…
Check on the legal things like inspected kitchen and food handlers licenses. I was going to make scones and sell them around town but I don’t have a kitchen that is up to the requirements for selling food out of…( Mine probably barely covers minimum requirements for feeding my family…)
Good luck with your cookie adventure!
Give the kids a hug from me!

The people who gamed the EBT system for a few hours in two stores in Louisiana were doing wrong, but the websites that exploited the story to boost ratings and whip up radical right wing ire were also doing wrong, making a bad situation worse. We can be sure the folks who took advantage of the glitch will be dealt with by the EBT system.

We can also be pretty sure the rabble-rouser websites will never report any corrective actions. It is their job, their goal to be negative, not to be helpful.